Matt's n600 rebuild project log

[Matt Timion]

Just order the upholstery yesterday for the seats. They look like this:





and they SHOULD look like this once installed:

[GasSavers_DaX]

That looks awesome! Where did you order from - is it custom, do they only have kits for N600s, or do they have kits for many cars?

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by DaX

That looks awesome! Where did you order from - is it custom, do they only have kits for N600s, or do they have kits for many cars?

I ordered through a guy in San Diego. He is a fellow n600 enthusiast and gets these direct from an upholstery shop local to him.

It's a good deal for the price. Much cheaper than katskinz or other seat covers. I'm certain that if you wanted your seats to look like this that you could probably get an upholstery shop to make something up for you.

It will probably cost a bit however to have them installed. A fellow n600 owner has these exact covers installed for him and it cost $250 to have it installed. That's why I'm going to try to install them myself

[Matt Timion]

Argh.

I tried to velcro the carpet in and I decided it wasn't going to happen. I ordered the expensive carpet set from a guy in North Carolina. With any luck the new seat upholstery will be here this week as well.

[MetroMPG]

matt - you've probably seen this before, but here's a guy in the netherlands with some great classic honda photos.

http://home.hetnet.nl/~h-a-68/index.html

[Matt Timion]

Today I took one of my front bumpers in to Salt Lake Chrome. I have two front bumpers and two rear bumpers. One of my rear bumpers is fine, and both of my front bumpers need serious help. I took the better of the two in and am having them straighten it and rechrome it.

For the amount they are charging it had better look better than new.

Who knew that chroming something was so damn expensive?

I'll have pictures up in like 3 weeks when it's done.

[GasSavers_DaX]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

Today I took one of my front bumpers in to Salt Lake Chrome. I have two front bumpers and two rear bumpers. One of my rear bumpers is fine, and both of my front bumpers need serious help. I took the better of the two in and am having them straighten it and rechrome it.

For the amount they are charging it had better look better than new.

Who knew that chroming something was so damn expensive?

I'll have pictures up in like 3 weeks when it's done.

My first car was a 1973 Porsche 914, with chrome front and rear bumpers. One of the last things I did for the restoration was take the bumpers [rust in spots, ding'd to hell, barely reflected light] to Southern Bumper Exchange - a rechroming outfit. The tally was $530 for both bumpers, but when I got them home two weeks later and pulled the paper off of them, it was SO worth it. Straight as an arrow and mirrors is the best way I can describe it. They far exceeded my expectations...even the terrible dents were undetectable.

Be sure to post up pictures...I hope you're as pleased with yours as I was with mine.

[Matt Timion]

I had a bit of a revelation the other day. I used to have the plan on rebuilding this engine. The fact is, however, the cheapest engine rebuild will be $2200. THe better engine rebuild (with a new crankshaft) will be $3500. That's just ridiculous.

What I'm going to do instead is order a new cam chain and head gasket and replace them myself. I will then wait for the engine to die. It could take years afterall. When this engine dies I will then decide if I want to convert it to electric, or maybe try to fit a 1.5L engine in there.

[SVOboy]

Get a 1.2 and pop it in there. Makes sense to me. You could prolly get a d15z1 in there though, but it'd be a waste of power.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Get a 1.2 and pop it in there. Makes sense to me. You could prolly get a d15z1 in there though, but it'd be a waste of power.

Do you mean the engine from the civic 1200? It's possible... I have a friend with a CVCC in Texas and he promised me the engine if i want it. I kind of wonder though if I'd be better off going electric at that point.

I could always try to put an engine from a geo metro in there at this point. The smaller the better IMO.